Spirit Of The Once Wild Rose
by Neptunes Tears
Summary: Based on an episode, the rose bride is like a bird trapped in her gilded cage, perhaps Utena is the one to set her free? A sweet symbolism story. The finale will be up shortly!
1. Spirit of the once wild rose

Author's notes:  
  
Hi ^^ I got the idea for this story one day when I was thinking about a part of an episode from the show. I thought I could do something with it, so I did. The part below is a piece of the script from the show, not mine and I got it from a website; I'm just burrowing it so you guys can have like a prologue. Well enjoy. ^-^ Oh and when the story breaks with "~ * ~ * ~" it separates the sections or some time had past.  
  
~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~  
  
Touga: "Well and truly beautiful..."  
  
Touga: "And this breed is said to be very difficult."  
  
Anthy: "Thank you very much."  
  
Touga: "By the way, you all were having lunch outside today, weren't you?"  
  
Anthy: "Yes. You saw, didn't you?"  
  
Anthy : "With Utena-sama, Wakaba-san, and Chuchu."  
  
Anthy: "It was a lot of fun."  
  
Touga: "That's excellent."  
  
Anthy: "Wakaba-san's lunch was so delicious."  
  
Anthy: "I want to make a dish like that."  
  
Touga: "The Rose Bride, cooking?"  
  
Touga: "You shouldn't do such things as cooking."  
  
Touga: "You should only take care of the roses here."  
  
Touga: "This birdcage is your territory."  
  
Touga: "And you are the beautiful little bird which lives here."  
  
Touga: "I want to possess this birdcage and everything in it."  
  
Touga: "I would never take you out from here, ever..."  
  
Touga: "Forever..."  
  
~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~  
  
"Spirit of the Once Wild Rose" By: Neptunes Tears  
  
An exotic and beautiful creature flew around its newly placed confinement. It bit the bars in a type of panicky rebellion before being soothed into compliance by a gently persuading, yet commanding touch; the cage door was then closed again.  
  
The two standing figures then watched, one with calm green eyes and a placid expression that always hid the interior; And the other, who had replaced their hands into their uniform pockets.  
  
"Isn't it beautiful, Anthy?" The student council president asked to the girl who stood beside him.  
  
"Hai." The rose bride responded with that same smile, as always.  
  
Touga whistled softly, coaxing for the bird to sing but the creature only glanced around its surroundings nervously; opening and closing its beak a few times as its little chest heaved quickly when it took in breaths of air.  
  
He smirked a little and glanced over at the young girl beside him again.  
  
"Consider it a kindred spirit, perhaps a pet of sorts. I got this creature to keep you company while you attend the roses."  
  
"But Oniisama doesn't allow pets on the campus." She interjected gently.  
  
Touga glanced doubtingly at the money mouse creature that sat on its master's shoulder as if to say something but stopped when ChuChu had given him a warning for the better.  
  
"CHU."  
  
The student council president then continued his thought with a slightly amused expression.  
  
"I've talked with the head chairman about this matter; he thinks it's a good idea to have such a beautiful creature brighten the rose garden with its song."  
  
He reached over and touched Anthy's cheek making her look to him, as he continued gently meeting her eyes.  
  
"After all, that's the bird's duty isn't it? It's what the bird lives for."  
  
He let his hand fall and she looked over and met the eyes of the winged creature within its gilded entrapment.  
  
"You are just like this bird in that, this is your gilded cage. Where you are protected and sheltered." Touga then gestured to the sky that shown down on them in brightly dancing patches through the plants of the green house ceiling. "And if a bird is set free from its cage it'll die in the wild because it can no longer survive on its own. Like a rose when it is picked, its thorns loose their painful edge. Never forget that Anthy."  
  
The girl's expression throughout this never seemed to change but for a spilt second her eyes seemed sadder. When Touga had left, she let her fingers linger on the latch of the cage for a moment before letting her hand fall and clasp with the other in front of her.  
  
"I am the Rose Bride."  
  
~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~  
  
"Himemiya.?" A princely looking figure with bright rose colored hair had called out for her friend as she peeked into the green house looking to walk with her to their morning classes. Upon opening the door her senses were enveloped in the sudden over whelming scent of roses, Utena smiled before stepping in completely. With a soft sucking noise the heavy glass door shut behind her and as its handle clicked into place.  
  
The damp humid air clung to the Prince's skin as she slowly made her way through the never ending tangle of plants and roses. The atmosphere seemed alive with life energy, elemental energy, quiet claming stillness yet it seemed to whisper of secrets. Utena stopped walking when she noticed something she never heard before in the rose garden. It was a delicately sweet type of tune, despite the thick enclosed atmosphere.  
  
She walked closer to investigate and the song stopped, its maker titled its tiny head and peeped curiously looking to the Prince who had approached the cage.  
  
"Onayo Utena-sama, I'll join you as soon as I am finished here." The rose bride greeted with a smile and finished watering a group of white roses toward the back of the green house, before replacing the watering can and picking up her books.  
  
"Himemiya, where did this bird come from?" Utena had asked when Anthy had stood beside her a moment later; stepping in to look at the caged creature with a sensitive expression and tentatively stroked the feathers of its wing. All the while it just looked to her, strangely tame for being such an exotic looking animal.  
  
"Touga sempai gave it to me a few days ago." She responded looking to her champion.  
  
"I can only imagine to what lengths he went to get this, but it will get sick being cooped up in here all the time." Utena continued to look to the captive still and wondered if its once wild spirit, filled with the nature urge to survive, was broken.  
  
"I'm sure it will die if it stays here." She concluded.  
  
"If that's how you feel about it, then I will no longer keep it." Anthy responded submissively.  
  
Any other time Utena would have hated for her to agree so willingly and be as passive as the Rose Bride obeying her master, but this was different. Utena felt compelled to save this creature. It was more then just a bird trapped in a cage. It seemed to represent everything she believed in. It seemed connected somehow to the cause she had felt since she was given the rose signet.  
  
The rose bride watched as the cage clicked open and squeaked as it was pushed aside by the Prince's hand. But the bird just looked to its savior as if not knowing what to do. Utena reached in collecting the bird in her hands carefully avoiding claws or bites that didn't come. The creature simply chirped once but other then that seemed tame.  
  
"It seems to no longer have the will to fly, Utena-sama."  
  
Utena petted the bird's feathers a little and looked to Anthy hopefully.  
  
"I'm sure once it realizes it's free, and feel the wind on its wings, it will have no problem. It's always had the will to be free, Hime; No one can take that away."  
  
Their eyes met and Anthy smiled, it was a little different then the usual smile she gave. There was something that glimmered in her eyes, even for a brief moment and Utena smiled back.  
  
"Come on, let's let it go together."  
  
They both walked out and into the sunlight of the early morning.  
  
~ * ~ * ~ * ~ 


	2. Finale

Spirit Of The Once Wild Rose- Finale  
  
  
  
The dim light from the desk lamp made the sleeping figure's skin glow softly. Pink tresses slid slowly across a strong frame and shoulders, making its way over a peaches and cream hued cheek of their face; calm from the light sleep that they had fallen into by accident while reading.  
  
The book had lain still in the Prince's hand which rested over the edge of her bunk bed. As she slept the more relaxed her grip became, till finally the book slid from her fingers and slammed shut against the hard wood floor. Utena awoke started and nearly fell from her recent perch. She sweat dropped and proceeded to descend the last few steps of her bed's latter and noticed ChuChu eating a late night snack on the small coffee table in the center of the room, scattering cookie crumbs as he nibbled noisily. Utena still flushed from her slowly awakening embarrassment, looked to the money mouse creature sheepishly.  
  
"You didn't see that, okay ChuChu?"  
  
"Chu."  
  
"Good." Utena glanced down at the bunk bed below hers and saw that it was empty.  
  
'I wonder where Hime is this late. She was sleeping when I started reading.'  
  
She noticed that the door to their room was ajar and she pushed it open looking out into the dim hallway of the empty dorm that they shared by themselves. She never really noticed how lonely and quiet it was until she was alone.  
  
Utena leaned against the door frame arms crossed as she slowly rubbed the tiredness from her eyes and tried to think of places Anthy could be and stopped hearing the faint sound of music being played from down stairs.  
  
"Do you hear that?" She asked over her shoulder to her chewing companion who had finished his cookie and climbed up to sit on her shoulder.  
  
Slowly descending the stairs, Utena quietly made her way to room the music was coming from and looked in. What she saw made her smile. The music had been from Anthy who sat at the piano playing a beautiful piece that needed no sheet music. She went to take another step when the worn floor boards of the large empty house had creaked under her weight. Utena winced a little and hoped Anthy hadn't heard her, but the music had stopped.  
  
"Oh Utena-sama, I didn't mean to wake you."  
  
The pajama clad tomboy shook her head a little feeling sorry that she had been spying in the first place. ChuChu scrambled down off her shoulder and went to sit beside his mistress and play with the dial on the piano's top that was used for keeping the tempo.  
  
"You didn't wake me. I'm sorry for interrupting your playing. I had no idea you had such a talent, Hime." Utena responded awed still by the pretty music that had once flowed through the room.  
  
"It's really nothing. I've played ever since I can remember." Anthy touched her fingers to the keys again and continued with her music even though Utena was still in the room.  
  
"You don't mind if I listen?" Utena asked, sitting beside her on the piano bench. She wondered if this was considered one of the tasks for the rose bride did for their engaged and that was why she didn't mind.  
  
"Not at all, Utena-sama; I like to play for you." Anthy smiled to her genuinely as she said this and a blush crossed Utena's cheeks a little and ran her fingers lightly over her side of the keys.  
  
"Maybe someday you could teach me, and we could play a duet together."  
  
"I would like that very much."  
  
..  
  
~ La Fin ~  
  
~ * ~ * ~ * ~ *  
  
Authors notes:  
  
If you haven't noticed, Anthy represents the bird from like before and her playing is symbolic. Like how the bird wouldn't sing for Touga, but Anthy choose to play for Utena. And of course the promise at the end is like the promise in the episode before the last one I think when Utena tells Anthy they will have tea together ten years from then. Anyway I hoped you liked it. 


End file.
